The big question is if they can afford him and that will be dependent on what Iginla is looking for.

The Bruins got him under the cap in 2013-14 by signing him to a contract that included a low base salary, but plenty of bonuses. Per the current CBA, it’s permitted for a team to exceed the cap ceiling due to bonuses, but then the difference gets charged to your following ceiling. In other words, part of Iginla’s contract from 2013-14 will eat into the team’s 2014-15 budget.

Boston could do the same thing again, but only if Iginla is willing to assume the risk of another bonus-laden, one-year deal. That might be a tough sell as he could certainly do better on the open market after scoring 30 goals and 61 points in 78 games.

That being said, the Bruins will reportedly be “very active” in the trade market and might be able to free up the cap space necessary to give Iginla a better deal.

I do not think Rask is the guy to get them over the hump. He has proven several times that he is not clutch and is unable to steal games when they need him to. To act like Thomas’s Cup winning performance and anything Rask has done is comparable is completely ridiculous; regardless of what numbers tell you, Thomas stole many games that the B’s had no business winning.

I don’t really understand how the media around here chastises Peyton Manning and Arod for their unclutch performances but Rask gets a free pass.

And Rask will not be the Vezina winner this year.

pepper2011 - Jun 10, 2014 at 1:49 PM

Rask will be Vezina as he led in GAA, Save % and SO and was 5th in wins. Bishop would be the only guy close and the only thing he bested Rask in is wins (by 3). Bishop also had more Losses.

I don’t think Rask has a free pass. This is his 3rd real season, and he has been to one Cup final.
I don’t count the Philly meltdown. They were down to Miroslav Satan as their offensive weapon. Also, Wideman.

Rask is calm and well positioned; Thomas is not. It makes Thomas look flashier doing it, but numbers are numbers. Saving 94% of your shots is saving 94% of your shots. I am not taking anything away from Thomas; he played his butt off, but If not for a Chara skate or a Ryder glove…

I saw Rask shut down a Penguins team that already had a parade scheduled, the NYR and they hung with a excellent Hawks team. Quick is the only guy in the league I would consider over Rask. If the Bruins don’t his 75 posts in the MTL series; there is a good chance they are playing now – I think they match up against the Rangers well.

Don’t be so quick to write him off. The Bruins were on to their 9th defensemen at times in the playoffs. NINTH.

Being calm and well positioned is not what the position is judged on, making the save when your team needs it is.
Rask gives up a lot of momentum killing goals and he always has. I’m not saying he isn’t a really good goalie because he is. He’s just not the guy who will steal a series for you, (and not many are).

pepper2011 - Jun 10, 2014 at 2:01 PM

Also – Thomas’ performance in the finals wasn’t amazing. It was good, but Luongo outplayed him in the first two games, and then they started to crack as a team.

Don’t get me wrong he had two shutouts both 4-0 wins, but so did Luongo; both 1-0 wins.

Tampa and Montreal that, that was something to behold.

dboldave - Jun 10, 2014 at 2:32 PM

Listen, I loved Thomas and I will always hold him in high regard for the job he did. But keep in mind, he only got past the second round once and if not for a save by Ryder, they wouldn’t have gotten past Montreal in 11.

I don’t think Rask was good against Montreal but what really killed the Bruins was the missed chances. How many posts did they hit? How many wide open nets were missed? If the B’s score on even a quarter of those misses, they move on and who knows what happens.

pepper2011 - Jun 10, 2014 at 2:47 PM

I do not agree with you, but I’ll play.

who should they trade him for?

Are we ready to hand over the nets to a 20 year old Subban or Svedberg who had a 2.70 and .903 save % in the AHL playoffs?

He is a top 3 goalie. Quick, Rask, Price, Lunqvist, Crawford. In that order.

Quick also gave up 16 goals in the first 3 games of these playoffs.

I think allowing 2 goals to a Penguins team is coming up big. You know the team that had our first line winger this year on their 4th line.

The finals against the hawks; he won an OT 2-1 in Chicago and then shut them out at home.

That’s winning big games. Just because they got beat doesn’t mean he didn’t play well, or well enough to win.

I don’t think it’s fair to put the blame on him. Seguin; their leading scorer had one goal in the playoffs.

3 years:
first round loss to Washington – Cup hangover.
Cup final – Beat by a better team
this year – Presidents trophy – walk over Detroit, and Lost to MTL – It’s gonna happen every once in a while. Give the guy a few more years. If he keeps getting bounced early, fine, but

Your opinion on Thomas is just flat out wrong so we need to move on from that.

In terms of Rask, I always hope I’m wrong but guys who are clutch, are generally always clutch, it’s not something they gain with age. Again, people read this as I’m saying Rask isn’t a good goalie, I’m absolutely not saying that. He’s a very good goalie but we’ve seen over the course of several playoff series that when he needed to make the big save or steal a game, that’s not who he is.

I agree with you! Rask is an overpaid slouch who has his numbers inflated by the system the Bruins run. You could stick any goalie in there and their stats would look good. If the Bruins were really smart they’d try to package Chara and Rask. That would give them plenty of space to sign some more goons.

i hope boston resigns him. dude is tough as nails and though he isn’t as clutch as horton, he is much less injury-prone.

killerpgh - Jun 10, 2014 at 12:39 PM

Are they allowed to offer another bonus filled contract? I thought teams couldn’t offer them unless to a player for consecutive years unless the previous years was injury filled and he missed “x” amount of games because of injury.

Just keep it going until he retires and take the cap hit when the cap goes up.

c9castine - Jun 10, 2014 at 12:53 PM

pretty irresponsible, if you ask me, to allow 4.5 mil dollars in salary to hit the books this year for a 37 year old player wether he is playing for the team or not.

at minimum hell take up what like 6-6.5 mil in cap space this year if resigned? thats if you do it like last year and kick some of the salary down the road…

just dont see the worth in that. i would have just given him a contract suited for him and forgotten about the bonuses. sign him for 4.5 mil or dont do it at all….none of this 6 mil crap spread over years and maybe even after he retires.

c9castine - Jun 10, 2014 at 11:01 PM

love to hear why people think this contract situation is a good idea

6 thumbs down for hearing the cold hard truth.

polishblue - Jun 10, 2014 at 1:13 PM

hey nyr: buyout Richards, sign Iginla. period.

nunan - Jun 10, 2014 at 1:35 PM

You’re acting like Thomas’ SC performance is normal or even necessary to win the cup. Rask is more than capable. What TT did was ridiculous, an “outlier” of a performance. I don’t mean this is a rude way at all but you’re saying Rask won’t win the vezina. My guess is that even if he does, you’ll say he didn’t deserve it. I think you have made up your mind about him already and no matter what he does, you won’t like him. It is what it is I guess. Bs would have been in a different position with a healthy Seidenberg but their real problem against the Habs was scoring.

Iginla did great with the Bruins, and I think he is well-matched for the way that the team plays. However, I am not sure that Boston fans will like having someone who isn’t white suiting up for their team… We have all seen how welcoming Boston fans are to non-white hockey players over the last several seasons.

Canadiens fans wearing blackface to their games never gets old for montrealblueballsreign.

nhstateline - Jun 10, 2014 at 7:55 PM

it’s a great big lie made in Montreal. The data in the article I link to doesn’t lie. To me the best part is where did the bulk of the racist tweets come from ? Canada. It was among the more irresponsible episodes in the history of journalism in the social media age. All started by an irresponsible soccer journalist and CBC Montreal that now, not surprisingly, just doesn’t want to talk about this “old news” anymore. Read it and weep:

With regard to the Joel Ward incident from a few years ago, Anson Carter said he was shocked by the episode, particularly because he recalls only fond memories of Boston. “When I was traded there, my parents were worried,’’ he recalled. “I remember them saying, ‘Are you sure you’re going to be OK? Shouldn’t you get out of there?’ But my experience in Boston was awesome. Everyone was tremendous.’’ Every city in the U.S. and Canada has it’s share of extremists. Whether it’s some clown in Boston yelling slurs at Subban or some genius in Montreal throwing a banana at Kevin Weekes. I may not be a fan of some of Subban’s antics but i’d trade pretty much anyone on my team for him.

But yeah, i’ll take your agenda driven, uneducated word over that of a former Bruin. Lame brain.

I live in Boston, not from here, but I’ve lived all over the US. I can say that Boston is easily the most liberal, melting pot of a place I have ever lived. That list includes Seattle by the way. There are plenty of things I dislike about this city, but in no way is Boston even close to the upper half of the list of “racist cities.” I know, I know, some soccer reporter from Montreal said the n-word was trending in Boston, so that means it HAS to be true right?

micklethepickle - Jun 10, 2014 at 4:50 PM

I lived there too, until last fall. And it is funny, because every white person I spoke to about race while I lived there said what you said; strangely enough, every Hispanic, Caribbean, and black person I met said it was among the most bitterly racist places they’d lived.

But this is off topic. No matter whether the PEOPLE living in Boston sing kumbaya and hold hands, the SPORTS FANS of Boston are a pretty foul group.

I didn’t know our comments were reflective of the 1950’s. Yes, you’re correcting believing that while segregation was still ongoing in much of the country, things were difficult. I’m not sure how anyone would dispute that but why are we looking at how players were treated over 60 ago rather than right now?

micklethepickle - Jun 10, 2014 at 4:54 PM

If you read my original post, I said Boston sports fans aren’t welcoming of non-white *hockey players*. YOU were the one who opened up the door to history by bringing up players that were treated absolutely dreadfully by Boston fans, not me. Make a better argument next time you try to defend hateful people.

dboldave - Jun 10, 2014 at 5:17 PM

So you discuss race relations with every person you come across mickle? Sweet, fake story dude!

Well there aren’t too many non-white hockey players in the league but off hand I know Boston had the first professional black hockey player, Anson Carter played here for awhile, Mike Grier played prep school here and went to BU, (voluntarily I believe) and I know of a couple other guys from the area who have played minor leagues so other than trolling, I’m not sure what the point of your post is?

micklethepickle - Jun 10, 2014 at 6:42 PM

@dboldave – HAHA, I wouldn’t expect a Boston fan to understand having friends of other races. And yes, when you hang out with people of color frequently, race will eventually come up. But I wouldn’t expect some drunk Southie potato head to get that.

dboldave - Jun 10, 2014 at 7:18 PM

Southie potato head?! Now you are just being mean!

puckyou14 - Jun 10, 2014 at 3:16 PM

^Your a moron.

lordstanley65 - Jun 10, 2014 at 7:51 PM

How did this post get so off topic? Oh, right, Montreal fan weighed in. No bias up there, as long as you speak French.

Mick is a total troll, lacking any truth or substance.Anyone who would even speak to him in real life has zero credibility.Thank goodness you moved, the area IQ average rocketed up as soon as you dragged your whining wagon out of town.